Senate holds hearing on the needs of military families with children with special health care needs

On June 21, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, chaired by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), held a hearing on the issues impacting military families affected by disabilities. The hearing focused on coverage of applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders by TRICARE, the military’s health care program. Several witnesses discussed the research on the effectiveness of ABA and various systems’ classification of ABA as either an educational or medical intervention. Another witness described the unique challenges faced by military families, including TRICARE’s annual caps on ABA therapy, loss of coverage for ABA therapy when their military status changes, and moving to the bottom of state Medicaid waiting lists with each of their frequent relocations. View the webcast and read the testimony at the subcommittee website.